1. Field
This application relates generally to communications, and more specifically, to grouping packets.
2. Background
An electronic device may support one or more communication protocols to transmit information to and/or receive information from other electronic devices. For example, an Ethernet-based protocol facilitates communication between electronic devices over a network that may include various switching/routing components and corresponding interconnection cabling. Conversely, wireless protocols facilitate communication over airwaves to one or more mobile devices.
In many applications it is desirable to conserve power in an electronic communication device. For example, it may be desirable to switch a wired device to a low-power mode when the device has not been used for some period of time. Also, mobile devices traditionally operate on battery power. In this case, reducing the power consumed by the mobile device effectively increases the talk time of the device between recharges of the battery.
A communication protocol such as Wi-Fi (based on the IEEE 802.11-related specifications) may support power savings in a wireless communication device by defining procedures that enable the device to transition to a power save mode when it is not transmitting or receiving data. For example, an access point that provides frames to the device may buffer the frames when the device is in a power save mode. In addition, the protocol may define procedures that enable the device upon transitioning from the power save mode to a normal operating mode to access a communication channel to transmit and/or receive frames.